Odalisques.com

This site explores the
imagined world of the Near East, especially of Ottoman Turkey
and Egypt, created by mostly western painters and writers and centered
on the figure of the odalisque - a female slave in a harem, trained
to serve her Master's pleasure, and assigned to sexual rather than
domestic duties. Rather than a faithful record of these Near
Eastern cultures, it was a deep and penetrating
reflection of often unacknowledged desires in Western audiences
connecting sex, power and sensual pleasures.

This Odalisquian world has many elements which we would now identify with
BDSM, especially D/s, M/s or
O&P relationships,
and this appreciation of Odalisquian imagery lives on within the modern BDSM scene.
The Octagram identifies eight
themes which unveil the figure of the odalisque: where a structure
like O&P provides a skeleton for M/s and D/s relationships, the
Odalisquian aim is to put sensual, feminine flesh on that skeleton.

When the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in
1453 they kept the city's ancient name, and it only changed to
"Istanbul" during the Turkish republic in the
1920s. The Ottoman Empire was built on slavery in
many ways, not only because the bureaucracy and
professional army were staffed by male slaves
conscripted in the provinces, but also because the
Sultans themselves were the sons of slave
concubines kept in the Imperial Harem. [more...]

"Magnificent Century" ("Muhtesem Yuzyil") is a long running Turkish television
drama about the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century,
including the life of the women in his harem.
I've posted about watching the
first episode, and included its bastinado
scene in a post about making a
falaka stick.
Recently I watched Episode 65, the second installment of season 3, which
includes that bastinado punishment, and I've collected clips which tell the
story of another [more...]

Let us imagine that you have an opportunity to buy
a female slave in 19th century Cairo or Istanbul.
What advice would be useful to you? What should you
look for, and how should you act? Even if you are
never approached by a
mad
man in a blue box to go on such an trip, some
of this advice might be useful in the present day
whenever you find yourself in possession of a new
slave. [more...]